A supply plan describes items to be procured and operations to be performed by processes within a supply chain network in order to deliver materials or items to an entity, such as, for example, a customer within the supply chain network. A supply plan is essential for the scheduling of mission-critical operations within constrained environments such as military and/or scientific research bases, ships, oil rigs, and factory floors. To facilitate interaction with suppliers and requesters an item request handling system accepts requests for an item and an allocation in accordance with the supplier's supply plan is undertaken. Various constraints may be placed on the supply chain network, such as, for example, limitations on the availability of materials or items from one of the process within the supply chain network. Yet another limitation is to prohibit the entity from changing the initial order so as to preserve the integrity of the supply plan. Such limitations are necessary because current inventory optimization and supply plan generation for deliberate and crisis action plans during peace/war time are cumbersome, inaccurate and slow to create.
Current optimization schemes take different and limited approaches to solve the myriad of supply plan problems. One optimization scheme identifies a set of delivery routes for a set of deliveries from specified locations. Another scheme collapses or shrinks the supply chain network so as to derive a single global formula to handle scheduling and routing optimization. These optimization schemes essentially optimize to a smaller less complex set of input requirements. Additionally, such systems are often constrained by an inability to account for different possibilities like a change in order or a change in operational availability. Further, current inventory optimization and supply plan generation for deliberate and crisis action plans during peace and/or wartime are cumbersome, inaccurate, and slow to create. In parallel to this missions are being executed, and a certain level of operational availability is expected to be maintained against the platforms to support and maintain a force/mission readiness.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an evolutionary approach to supply chain planning and routing. There is also a need for an improved supply plan that is optimized to a complex set of input requirements.